Mechanical Properties of JSC-1 Lunar Regolith Simulant

This paper describes the engineering properties of JSC-1, which is a lunar regolith simulant developed by NASA, Johnson Space Center. Simulants of this type are an essential tool for modeling and anticipating the behavior of the lunar soils, and accurate prediction of the geotechnical properties of lunar soils is of particular importance to lunar habitat planning and construction. The authors have studied the mechanical properties of JSC-1 by conducting an extensive suite of experiments. These studies were performed at a variety of effective stress levels and material densities. Both shear and isotropic compression tests were performed, and precise measurements of the stress-strain, dilatancy and strength behavior of the material were made. Measured values of various geotechnical properties of JSC-1 are presented and compared to values for both actual lunar soils and other simulants, as presented by other investigators.